598 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



are not fed. There was quite a good 

 honey-flow during the latter part of May 

 and the first of June, but that was ex- 

 hausted during the severe drouth. I 

 made a short visit to High Hill, Mo., on 

 July 3, to see Messrs. Nebel & Son. I 

 purchased 3 Italian queens and 1 pound 

 of bees, brought them home, and intro- 

 duced them successfully. They have 

 attracted considerable attention, as 

 there are no Italian bees in this locality. 

 Dolson, Ills. E. F. Clapp. 



Grubb's Way of Fastening Foundation 



The illustration on page 520, of the 

 Grubb frame, does not show the best 

 way to put the foundation in. The bet- 

 ter way is to slip the sheet of founda- 

 tion into the frame as it belongs, then 

 put the wedge-shaped strip back where 

 it came from, and crowd it down until 

 it presses the foundation, and thus holds 

 it in place. Then nail the strip in. It 

 is not necessary to first fasten the strip 

 to the fonndation. H. N. Jones. 



Clay Centre, Nebr. 



[The illustration in question is an 

 exact copy of the one on Mr. Grubb's 

 patent, and was not intended to show 

 "the best way to fasten comb-founda- 

 tion to frames," but to show that his 

 "claim "was on an old device, in use 

 for years before he claimed it as origi- 

 nal. — Ed.] 



Wavelets of News. 



Honey-Dew, Winter Stores, Etc. 



I have a few sections of it, and hardly 

 know what to do with the stuff. It is 

 not safe to winter bees on, and it is not 

 good to eat. At least some people do 

 not like it, although some do, just as 

 some prefer buckwheat to any other 

 honey. I think I prefer to keep it, and 

 use it for Spring feeding. Bees use a 

 lot of stores for rearing brood in the 

 Spring, and can safely use almost any- 

 thing when they can fly every day. But 

 it will not do to feed enough of it, or 

 late enough, so that there is any danger 

 of getting some of it stored in surplus. 



I have weighed all my bees this Fall, 

 instead of " hefting" them, or guessing 

 at their stores by inspection. Weighing 

 will not tell just how much honey is in 

 the hive, but it will tell more nearly than 

 guessing. Count on each hive about 10 



pounds heavier than necessary, and 

 then you will find some not a bit too 

 heavy, because there may be 10 pounds 

 extra heavy combs and bee-bread. I try 

 to have hives with cover, bottom-board, 

 bees and stores, all weigh at least 50 

 pounds. Your hives may be larger or 

 smaller, so heavier or lighter. — De. C. 

 C. MiLLEE, in the National Stockman. 



Golden-Hod in California. 



In a journey of some fifty miles 

 through the mountainous region of the 

 San Fernando and adjacent country, 

 made during September, we. observed 

 some splendid specimens of golden-rod, 

 and wherever it was in Woom it was 

 almost bending under the multitude of 

 bees at work upon it. It has been said 

 that bees do not frequent the plant for 

 honey, and some say that the golden-rod 

 does not grow in California, but many 

 of the more sheltered canyons, especially 

 those supplied with constantly running 

 water, furnish immense quantities, and 

 gorgeous growths of the National 

 flower. Where it has once established 

 itself, the plant will flourish, even in 

 very dry years, and gives considerable 

 bloom that yields good nectar, though 

 honey gathered from it is not as light as 

 that produced from the sages. — Rural 

 Califomian. 



The " Point of Confidence." 



Most persons who undertake bee-keep- 

 ing enter the work with some misgivings. 

 While they do not exactly fear the bees, 

 yet there is at first an involuntary 

 hanging back, a reluctance to handle 

 bees more than is absolutely necessary. 



Beginners should wear not only a veil, 

 but also gloves ; many novices seeing old 

 bee-keepers handle them with bare hands 

 try to imitate them — like to appear 

 professional — to go among the bees with 

 a reckless air. 



Some of the most sucessf ul bee-keepers 

 have said that before the first year had 

 passed they had almost decided that 

 there was something about them that 

 antagonized the bees, and that they 

 could do nothing with them. 



An acquaintance declared, in the fall 

 of the first year, " I've had enough of 

 bees. They will not accept me. It is 

 useless to tell me that bees do not sting. 

 They do nothing else with me." But he 

 decided to struggle through another 

 year; for, in spite of many stings, he 

 had a good crop of honey. Before the 

 second year closed, he remarked that 



